100-word-story competition: Vote for the winning adult

From thousands of entries to just three, our editorial team has chosen the shortlist for the adult category of our 100-word-story competition, now it's up to you to vote for the winner.

"Monkeys with money and guns"

by Matt Soden, Chelmsford

"Shaving the chimp and getting it into a suit was one thing, but getting it elected? Madness. Gullible, yes. The people weren't stupid… or were they? Sure, he looked like a businessman and he had even learned to talk, but what he knew about running a country you could write on the edge of a dollar bill—plus the animalistic urges remained. Less fiscal, more fist-full.

Let the people decide! Oh, I didn't think…

The world waited to see how this monkey business would end, as he sat beating his chest, staring at the big red button on his desk."

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Considering the Weather

by Noah Russell, Kent

"Two boys lay in the grass, considering the weather.

'The sun is very strong,' said one to the other. But under the tree, in-amongst the roots, it was cooler. The bells of the church rang out, the sound rushing through the soil, sending bone-quivering quakes down their spines. St Mary's stood tall in its fertile grounds, the deep, green blades surrounding it appearing like an algae-covered lagoon, spattered with engraved, jutting rocks; the central spired building, a great flint island.

In the yews, blackbirds hopped from branch to twig. The boys' headstones cast arching shadows across where they lay."

Encroachment

by Penny Blackburn, Tyne and Wear

"He presses the piano key, frowns. The soft, muffled sound does not match the crystal sharp note in his head.

Not yet thirty, his hearing has aged beyond him. Normal conversation has become impossible and he socialises rarely now, to hide it.

He rages at the silence that encroaches further each day, feels a spasm of pain when he thinks of the music that is lost to him. He rests his head on the piano surface, feels the note's vibration. This is what will be left when his world falls silent.

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